Bernard Flexner, founder and first president of the Palestine Economic Corporation, died here today at the age of 80. At the time of his death he was chairman emiritus of the corporation having relinquished the position of chairman of the board several months ago.
Mr. Flexner was engaged in welfare work for many years and served as a major in the American Red Cross in Poland and Rumania in the last war. An active Zionist, he was a close collaborator of the late Justice Louis D. Brandeis and was a member of the Zionist delegation to the peace conference in Paris in 1919.
Mr. Flexner was associated with the Joint Distribution Committee in various capacities since shortly after World War 1 when he went to Eastern Europe for the JDC. He served on its executive committee until 1939. Tribute to his “unforgetable record of service” was paid today by Paul Baerwald, chairman of the JDC.
Mr. Flexner was born in Louisville, Ky., on Feb. 26, 1865. He is survived by two brothers, Dr. Abraham Flexner, former head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and Dr.Simon Flexner, formerly of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and a sister Mary.
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